Sleepy Belmont in July ends with Fireworks galore!
The Underwood Pool
Young children require both swim diapers and plastic liners to prevent “Poop-a-geddon issues that recently forced a prolonged closure of the shallow end of the pool. As for Adults, Farting is prohibited in the pool as you never know until it’s too late. Sound monitors have been placed to remove offenders.
Teacher Strike
Belmont students may be looking at an extended summer break as contract talks with the Union representing Belmont Public School Teachers and Staff drag on. Town leaders cry poor while employees deal with lingering inflation in a Town that just passed an $8.4 million dollar override and spent $70 million on a Library and Rink. There is a real disconnect here.
Carol Berberian
Carol along with Max Colice introduced a successful amendment getting Town Meeting to eliminate the seating requirement for establishments to get all alcohol licenses. While this will require action by the State legislature, it is a positive step to attract and keep commercial establishments in Belmont.
Second major shooting in Belmont
A home on Channing Road was the scene of a dozen or so bullets being sprayed at it. This is the same home as a prior NEMLEC SWAT unit searched last year. Thankfully, no injuries were reported but neighbors are outraged. You would be as well if you shelled out $1.0m to $2.8m million to live on the street. The landlord has been advised of the neighborhood concern.
Residents demand answers
Unlike the prior shooting next to Vet Village in Belmont in which over a dozen bullets were fired including two that struck a man outside the home and another round striking a nearby home, residents went straight to the Select Board. Now that the violence has spread down Pleasant Street from the Waltham line to Belmont Center, the question is what are the Select Board doing.
The short answer is nothing. One Board member went on a tangent about overrides affecting police enforcement. The reality is all three shootings are related to housing issues. The Town passed a massive $8.4m override recently but has had trouble filling law enforcement positions in part because the Town is not considered law enforcement friendly, especially Town Government, that recently removed the Belmont Police Unions from Civil Service without a negotiated settlement. The Select Board, like the School Committee, tries as hard as possible to ignore inconvenient truths that reflect poorly on the Town, or may be expensive to fix, or are politically incorrect to discuss. All Belmont residents deserve better. Maybe form a committee to evaluate these three incidents to present to the Town Meeting.
Roll of Shame
Town Meeting voted to advise the Select Board to continue the 1998 honor the Town gave to James P. “Skip” Viglirolo at the recent special Town Meeting by a greater than 2 -1 margin. Some felt it wasn’t the Town Meeting’s place to advise and then abstained from voting. 55 however said “No”. They could have abstained but chose not to.
The Select Board
It has never made sense that the Rink name should be changed. Sure, creating a naming policy for a future new or change of use building allows an efficient process to be followed but the rink has a name and those closest to the Viglirolo family are the ones who worked tirelessly to make the new building a reality. Applying this policy comes across as retroactive, divisive and creates an us vs them environment. Some want to sue over what they consider a lacking legal assessment by the Town Counsel on who has the granted naming rights which means added cost to the Town and opening the door to unexpected discovery. No reputable business would pay for naming rights knowing they are essentially buying it away from a man who earned it after a lifetime of service to community especially in a community in which one after another Town Meeting member cited, they have never received more communication from the public than on keeping the Skip name. A simple vote by the board to keep the Skip name is the best decision for the Town as the Town Meeting has advised. There are much bigger issues ahead this Fall.
Becca Pizzi
The news would be if she lost a race but that didn’t happen. Instead, Becca set a record at the North Pole marathon. No word on how the polar bears chasing her are doing after the 4 hours, 46 minutes, 21 second sprint.
Belmont Center Planning Overlay
If you are not an expert on a subject, Belmont has plenty of residents to reach out to. Here is what was learned. Belmont is not Cambridge. Belmont does not command anywhere close to the price per square foot for commercial property like Cambridge. Reputable builders would likely need 6 floors (5 residential) to make these properties work in Belmont Center. The Cushing Square development is lucky to break even. They really needed an extra floor to not sweat it out year after year. Over the line in Cambridge, a change from 10% to 20% in the affordable housing requirement (if parking is waived) is causing projects to be put on hold. There is no magic bullet for Belmont. Sure, a Hotel in the Center is great. Can we build 5? As they say, Belmont is one Black Swan event away from the cliff.
The Board is correct in looking at all means possible to increase the commercial tax base. Unfortunately, the timing in the commercial market is not good. Even Lab Space shows a vacancy rate of 25%. Empty buildings mean lower assessments meaning a tax shift back to residents. Boston may be looking at $1.7B lost commercial tax revenue over the next few years. What Belmont can’t afford is new housing that is not fully offset plus some by commercial. Unfortunately, that is what the MBTA act has forced on the Town and Belmont can’t afford it. There are no easy answers or as Mike Widmer warned the Town is a failed override away from massive cuts that fundamentally change the Town.